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Sunday, February 8, 2015

The Last Newspaper Boy in America, by Sue Corbett

On his twelfth birthday, Wil David is anxious to take over
his new paper route. The route has been
handed down through his family for generations, and he’s spent years training
for this moment. What should be a moment
of glory is ruined, however, when his paper announces that they plan to stop
home delivery to Wil’s town! Will’s
letter to the editor goes unanswered, at least until he starts spreading the
bad news to his subscribers. Their
reaction shows him just how much the town depends on their newspaper…and on
him.

One thing I noticed is that at the beginning of this book,
Wil didn’t really seem to know his neighbors.
He knew their names, addresses, and how they liked to get their papers, but
he didn’t really interact with them. As
his campaign to keep home delivery went forward, though, his meetings with his
neighbors became more frequent when he got to know them personally. I don’t want to ruin the awesome ending, but
I will drop a hint about how Wil’s neighbors come to his aid. One lesson to take away from this book is
that an organized group of people will always accomplish much more than just
one person can.

“The Last Newspaper Boy in America” is actually more about
community organizing than it is about a newspaper route. Still, I felt that it was an awesome book,
and one with a good message. But that
leads me to ask if you’ve ever felt that something happening to you was unfair? What was it, and what did you do about
it? Do you think that writing a
complaint letter could have made a difference?